


Missing pieces

by Arillow



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: (Not as funny as it sounds lol), Everyone here has Issues, Falling In Love, Hurt/Comfort, Knight Tsukasa, M/M, Mild Angst, More tags to be added, Past Abuse, Slow Burn, characters to be tagged as they appear, reverse isekai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22518193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arillow/pseuds/Arillow
Summary: As Leo is searching for inspiration for his next song, it falls on his lap from the sky - quite literally. A mysterious boy who claims to be a Knight from another world, Tsukasa now has no other choice but to rely on Leo, Izumi, Arashi and Ritsu to help him as he searches for a way to go back home, at the same time as he feels compelled to help the four struggling idols as they try to debut.
Relationships: Suou Tsukasa/Tsukinaga Leo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I personally use female pronouns for Arashi, but for this fic I'll switch her pronouns depending on the pov (female pronouns in Leo's pov and male pronouns in Tsukasa's pov), this also will probably change as the characters develop. You'll understand as you read.
> 
> Also while this is mainly Leokasa, there will be mentions of past Izuleo ~~(and I'm studying the possibility of making this Izuleokasa, but I don't know yet skdjhjkfd)~~
> 
> Have a fun read~

The park near their apartment was one of Leo’s favorite place to compose. It had a small lake that he could sit by, watching the carp fishes swimming about and the people trying to feed them crumbs. Whenever Leo went there, he always went back home with at least one new song.

However, this time he couldn’t write at all. He lied on his belly on the grass near the lake, throwing crumbs of bread to the fishes occasionally and twirling his pen between his fingers while frowning at the sheets of paper in front of him. No matter what he wrote, he just couldn’t get satisfied with it. The melodies in his head were all jumbled and he couldn’t sort them out as he did before.

Sighing, he rested his chin on his arms, observing the fishes. The sun was already setting and people were starting to go home, the park growing quieter as the night fell. Leo knew he had to go home soon too, or Arashi would get worried - and Izumi too, even though he wouldn’t admit it. Most likely Izumi would scold him for disappearing for the whole day.

But he had to compose  _ something _ . His Knights had been struggling to make it big for two years now, and they finally had received a chance to perform at a big festival by the end of the month, thanks to Eichi. Leo wanted them to sing a new song! Maybe if they get popular enough they could even get a contract with an agency. 

But first Leo needs a new song. If only he had some inspiration…

He rolled on his back and stared at the darkening sky, the first stars starting to appear up there. Maybe he was pressuring himself too much and that was hindering his ability to compose. He closed his eyes, trying to relax. Think of nice things, Leo. Interesting things. Anything, please…

The only thing he could see behind his eyelashes, though, were empty seats and Izumi’s frustrated face.

He growled at himself, raising his hands to mess his own hair as if trying to reach into his brain to rip out those images from there. It would be alright if they perform successfully at the festival! Eichi assured him owners of big idol agencies would be there and if they were interested, they might contact them. He just needed a good song and everything would be alright! Why couldn’t he write anything…?

He opened his eyes and then blinked, confused. There was something weird floating above him, like a raincloud. Was it going to rain? He was sitting up when a flash of light illuminated the cloud, so bright Leo had to cover his eyes.

Then, in the next second, something heavy- no, not something, but some _ one _ fell on his lap, making him fall on his back again with a gasp of pain. A blur of red hair covered his vision. He waited for the other person to move, but after a few seconds, they still didn’t.

“Hey! You’re heavy!” Leo complained, trying to sit up again. The person still didn’t move, their head lolling and resting on Leo’s shoulder.  _ Ah, they’re unconscious _ , he realized. He also realized the person was a boy with a pretty and delicate face, long eyelashes as red as his hair. His expression was distressed, and Leo tried poking his cheek to wake him up, but it had no results.

He’s really cute, Leo couldn’t help but think.

Then he shook his head. He had to do something about this stranger who had just fallen on him. He tried patting at his clothes for his wallet to see if he had any identification, but only found a really heavy golden pocket watch. He was slightly creeped out when he found what seemed to be a knife - no, was it a dagger? - attached to his left hip.

Only then he realized this stranger wasn’t wearing what could be deemed common clothes. If anything, it looked like something a prince from a fairy tale would wear, with that embroidered white vest and the long blue coat. Was he a cosplayer? That would explain the dagger (maybe)...

“Well, I should at least call an ambulance,” Leo muttered to himself. He didn’t know if the stranger was hurt, but if he was falling unconscious on other people then maybe a visit to the hospital was worth it. He shoved his hand in his pocket to pick his phone, only to realize he didn’t have it with him. He slapped his own forehead. “I forgot it home again! Grrrrr!”

Even with all of his rambling, the stranger still didn’t wake up. Sighing, Leo looked at him, contemplating if he should just leave him there. Ah, but then he would feel bad for leaving someone unconscious in the middle of the park, completely vulnerable. And the nearest hospital was too far for him to carry this person until there...

He hummed. His apartment was in the block next to the park.  _ Would Sena be mad if I take him home with me? _

* * *

Izumi was mad. Very,  _ very _ mad.

Leo sat on the ground near the sofa where he had dropped the stranger as soon as he had gotten home, flinching as Izumi scolded him.

“Are you  _ insane _ ? Bringing a stranger home… This is not a lost puppy, it’s a  _ person _ , Leo-kun! What if he thinks we kidnapped him? Why didn’t you call the police or something instead of bringing him here?”

He started to mumble that he didn’t have his phone on him, only for Izumi to start ranting that he needed to take his phone with him all the time, and  _ why are you always like this Leo-kun, this is such a headache! _ Leo merely pouted at the ground, knowing Izumi had the right to complain - but it was still annoying!

Ritsu was sitting on the ground too, leaning against the armrest of the sofa and peeking at the stranger’s face, poking at him occasionally. He didn’t seem to mind that Leo had brought him there, instead being more interested in who that stranger was.

“Izumi-chan, try to breath at least.” Arashi was sitting by their dinner table, resting her cheek on her palm and giving Izumi an amused look. “If you keep grimacing like this, your face will become ugly for real, you know.”

“Shut up, Naru-kun.” He glared at her and then at Ritsu. “Why aren’t you two saying anything?”

“I don’t see the problem.” Ritsu yawned. “When he wakes up we’ll send him away and that’s that. It’s best than if Tsukippi had abandoned him there.” He reached a hand to pat Leo’s head. “Good boy, Tsukippi.”

“Grrr, don’t treat me like a child!” Leo batted his hand away. “Also Sena, you couldn’t expect me to leave this guy alone there, right? He had no ID with him, I was worried, you know!”

Izumi seemed like he was about to launch himself into another round of scolding, but a small groan made them all stay quiet. Leo looked to his side in time to see the stranger open his eyes - beautiful amethyst eyes.

None of them moved as the stranger blinked, obviously confused as he scanned his surrounds. Then he sat up with a yelp, staring at them as if scared of them. Izumi glared at Leo as if saying  _ your problem, you explain. _

“Uh, hi!” Leo said cheerfully, and heard clearly as Izumi facepalmed. The stranger looked at him warily. “I know this is weird, but uh… You passed out on me, so I brought you home!”

He smiled as if that made sense. Ritsu chuckled, startling the boy, who looked at him before looking at Leo again.

“Where… am I?”

“At our house, I told you already.” Leo tilted his head. “Or perhaps do you mean the city? Don’t worry, we’re still in Tokyo!”

“Tokyo?” The boy sounded confused, as if he had never heard of Tokyo. He looked around and then struggled to stand up. Izumi gave him a wary look and Leo stood up, concerned when he saw the boy wobbling a bit, but he still managed to run to the window, throwing it open and staring outside.

“What, did you think I was lying?” Leo tried to sound amused, but he was starting to grow anxious. If this boy had never been to Tokyo and was truly lost, then their problem was bigger than he first thought.

“I…” The boy was still looking outside, and when Leo approached him, he noticed he had a devastated expression on his pretty face. “What  _ place _ is this?”

“As I said, Tokyo,” Leo repeated as if talking to a child. “You know, Japan?”

“J… Japan?” The boy stared at Leo for a moment and then sighed, covering his face with his hands. “I can’t believe this...”

“Is it too far from your home?” Arashi asked gently, “If you tell us where you’re from, maybe we can help you.”

Izumi crossed his arms as if saying he didn’t feel the slightest inclination to help, but kept quiet as the boy slowly lowered his hands and looked at each of them, looking like a lost child.

“I am grateful for the offer,” He said politely, “But I don’t think any of you can  _ help _ me go back home.”

“Is it too far from here?” Ritsu asked, still on the ground leaning his head on the armrest of the sofa.

“Yes, indeed.” The boy made a small pause, as if considering carefully his next words. “I am not from here. From this  _ world _ , I mean.”

There was a heartbeat, and then Leo gasped.

“Are you an alien?!”

Again the sound of Izumi facepalming resounded in the room. Ritsu chuckled while Leo gazed expectantly at the strange boy. He had always been interested in aliens - he was pretty sure they existed, despite whatever Izumi said!

However, the boy tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“ _ Alien _ ? I’m afraid I am not familiar with this term.”

“Y’know, you came from the space, right?” Leo gestured vaguely towards the sky, “Another world! So you’re an alien!”

“Space?” The boy sounded even more confused, looking outside at the night sky. “You mean the sky? I am afraid not. I said I come from another  _ world _ . Apparently I fell through a magical portal that took me to a world different from my own.”

Another heartbeat, and then Izumi threw his hands to the air.

“Insane.” He said, “This guy must have escaped from a hospice. I’m going to call the police and ask if there’s any patient missing.”

“Izumi-chan!” Arashi frowned at him.

“What is a hospice?” The boy asked. “I never heard that term before. As I said, I…”

“Yeah, yeah, magical portal, a parallel world, all that funny stuff.” Izumi waved his hand dismissively at the boy. “If you think we’ll believe in that…”

“I am aware you might not believe in me.” The other answered. “From what I can see this world is quite different from mine. However, I am not lying.”

He sounded absolutely convinced in what he was saying. But then again, Leo thought, so did crazy people.

“You seem very calm for someone who just got transported to another world,” Ritsu commented.

“Do I?” The boy looked at his own hands, and only then Leo realized they were shaking slightly. He fisted them and looked up at Ritsu again. “I was trained to remain calm in extreme situations. I do admit I am scared right now, however panicking will not be helpful at all.”

“That’s right, we should all stay calm so we can help him go back home.” Arashi said. “Although in this situation…”

She trailed off, and silence fell upon them. There wasn’t much they could do if this boy thought he came from a fantasy world using a magical portal. Even if what he was saying was true, where would they even find a portal to take him home?

“Well, we can think of ways to help him in the morning.” Arashi concluded happily. “I believe it’s okay for him to sleep here, right?”

“Huh?!” Izumi looked at her as if she was insane, but Leo was already nodding enthusiastically.

“That sounds great!”

“I’m fine with it~” Ritsu added.

“Wait, wait! Where is he going to sleep? We don’t even know his name!”

“Oh, that’s right. I apologize for not introducing myself sooner.” The boy stood straighter and placed a hand on his chest, and dressed up like that once again Leo thought he looked like a prince or some sort of noble straight out of a fairy tale book. “I am Suou Tsukasa, heir to the Suou Household and a Knight in the service of the Himemiya family. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“A Knight! How interesting, wahaha~!” Leo grabbed one of his hands and shook it enthusiastically. “I’m Tsukinaga Leo! Your name is too long, so I’ll just call you Suo~.”

“What-...” Tsukasa seemed offended, but didn’t get to elaborate as Leo had already let go of his hand and wandered off.

“I’m going to prepare my room for him to stay in!” After all, he had been the one to bring Tsukasa into the house. The boy was his responsibility now.

“You’re going to make him sleep in that nest of rats?”

“That’s rude, Sena!” Leo pouted at him. “It isn’t  _ that _ bad.”

“When was the last time you cleaned up your room?” Izumi crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow, but Leo didn’t answer. “That’s what I thought. So annoying...” He shook his head and looked at Tsukasa. “I’m Sena Izumi. We don’t need more problems than we already have, so you better stay out of the way.”

And with that not so friendly remark, he left the room. Leo flinched when he heard him slamming the door of his bedroom.

“Please forgive him,” Arashi said, “Izumi-chan is going through a lot right now.”

“We all are, though.” Ritsu yawned and stood up, stretching before smiling at Tsukasa. “I’m Ritsu. Nice to meet you, Suu-chan~.”

“Suu-chan?” Tsukasa blinked.

“Ritsu-chan gives nicknames to everyone.” Arashi explained with a giggle. “I’m Narukami Arashi, by the way. Welcome to our humble home, Tsukasa-chan.”


	2. Chapter 2

To say that Tsukasa was panicking internally was putting it lightly. He couldn’t stop overthinking his last moments with Tori and Yuzuru, wondering if there was anything he could have done to avoid the situation he was in right now. He was so scared and lost, he didn’t even know how to start looking for answers.

But allowing himself to drown in those feelings would be his downfall. He needed to remain as calm as possible and do something about his current situation.

However, it was already night and he didn’t know anything about this world. Leo and Arashi had offered to help him out in the morning, so he could do nothing but wait until there.

While Arashi declared he would prepare their dinner, Leo grabbed his hand and dragged him around to meet the house - what he called an  _ apartment _ . Tsukasa was extremely fascinated with how four people could live in such a tiny space, with only four rooms and one bathroom in addition to the main room, but he supposed commoners were good at living in small places. Leo pointed to him each of the rooms, telling him which was “Naru’s”, “Rittsu’s” or “Sena’s”. Arashi’s and Ritsu’s had their doors opened, but Izumi’s was still closed. Tsukasa had the feeling the other didn’t like him very much, and he couldn’t really blame him. He  _ was _ intruding into their home, after all.

“And this is my room!” Leo said opening the last door. “I’m sorry for the mess, I haven’t cleaned it up this week yet, wahaha!”

_ Mess _ was a light way to put it. Tsukasa stared in horror at the walls with random doodles on them, the papers littering the floor and the ominous pile of discarded clothes in a corner. At least the room didn’t  _ stink _ , but Tsukasa still couldn’t see how someone could live in there.

“We have an extra futon somewhere,” Leo hummed as he started to pick up the sheets of paper from the floor, “So I can throw it here and you can sleep on it. It’s not much, but it’s better than sleeping on the floor!”

Tsukasa didn’t know what a  _ futon _ was, but he was grateful he would at least have a place to sleep.

“Thank you for your kindness,” He said sincerely. “I will try to solve my  _ situation _ as quick as possible so to not trouble you and your friends longer than necessary.”

“Huh?” Leo looked up at him. “Ah, don’t worry about that! You can stay for as long as you need.”

“But won’t your friend be upset with that?” He remembered Izumi’s displeased face. He couldn’t imagine the other being happy with him overstaying his welcome.

“You mean Sena? Don’t worry about him, he’ll come around to like you, he always does~” Leo hummed happily as he placed his papers on his bed now, and added, “It’s not the first time I bring someone over all of a sudden.”

“Is… that so?”

“Oh, right, I’ll also lend you some clothes!” He stared Tsukasa up and down. Tsukasa had noticed that he and his friends wore clothes he had never seen before, and he wondered if his own clothes seemed too out of place among them. “We’re almost the same size, I guess, so it might fit~”

He gave Tsukasa a pile of clothes and a towel, and then pointed him to where the  _ bathroom _ was, at the end of the hall. Tsukasa had never seen a room exclusively for bath, and he was starting to think that the people in this world had some really great ideas.

However, Tsukasa was unfamiliar with the  _ shower _ , so Leo had to teach him how to turn the faucets and regulate the temperature. After that he left with a wave.

“If you need anything else, just call me!” He said and closed the door, leaving Tsukasa alone.

He sighed and turned towards the shower. Under any other circumstances, he would be extremely curious about such an invention, but at this moment he couldn’t bring himself to think about it. Alone in this small bathroom, he couldn’t help but feel lonely and worried, not knowing how Tori and Yuzuru were doing. Had they managed to escape? Had they been captured? He shuddered at the thought; he didn’t want to think about Tori being dragged back into the castle only to be executed by the usurper, but the image came to him either way.

Shaking his head furiously, he started shedding his clothes, carefully folding them and placing them on top of the sink. He stepped under the shower and turned the faucet like Leo had taught him, shivering when he water started falling on him.

He cleaned himself automatically, not really paying attention to it, but glad that he had the opportunity to wash himself. It felt like so long since he last had a bath - this whole day had felt so long, from the feast to the attack, the escape and then falling through that portal and ending up here.

At this point, he was ready to just lay down and sleep, it didn’t matter if it was on the floor or on a  _ futon _ . However, as he finished cleaning up and started drying himself, his stomach growled in protest. He remembered he had barely eaten at the feast, and considering how much he had run and fought today…

_ I wonder what’s for dinner _ , he couldn’t help but think. He felt embarrassed about feeling entitled to dinner with Leo’s friends, but he was so hungry that such a thought was quickly buried away in his mind. He could feel embarrassed  _ after _ he had something in his stomach.

The clothes Leo had handed to him were nothing like he had ever seen. The bottoms didn’t have anything to tie them with, although he noticed they were a bit elastic around the waist, which he found extremely smart (and he did spend at least five minutes trying to figure out how they were made, but he would never admit that). They were bright green and with strange symbols Tsukasa had never seen; they seemed like magical runes for protection he had seen in temples before, but considering how they had reacted to his mention of a magical portal, he doubted they were familiar with magic at all.

The shirt was what confused him the most. It wasn’t like he was expecting a fancy dress shirt like he was used to, but this was also nothing like the things he had seen commoners wearing. It was the same color as the bottoms, but with short sleeves and no buttons or anything to tie it at all. There was a strange figure on one of the sides, a thing that looked like an oval face but gray, with big completely dark eyes. Was that a monster from this world? Why did Leo have a shirt with a monster face in it? Maybe he was a monster hunter and thus liked everyone to know it? What a weird person…

He managed to dress up, finding out the clothes were more comfortable than he had expected, although the pants were a bit short on him. Not that he could complain, anyway, since these were borrowed clothes, he should be grateful he had something clean to wear instead of his dirty outfit.

Having finished, he picked up his clothes and left the bathroom. He didn’t know what to do with his clothes now, so he followed the sound of everyone’s voices in the main room, hoping they would tell him.

Ritsu and Arashi were still preparing the dinner in that small kitchen, and he found Leo sitting by the table writing furiously on some papers scattered in front of him. With how concentrated he was, Tsukasa almost thought he was writing an important letter to someone, but when he approached him, he saw he was actually drawing the same symbols that were on the pants he had given Tsukasa.

“Hey Suuchan,” Ritsu looked at him and then chuckled. “I can’t believe Tsukippi made you wear that shirt.”

Tsukasa tilted his head, confused.

“Why? Is there anything wrong with it?”

“No.” Arashi glared at Ritsu, like a mother scolding her child. “Don’t worry about it, Tsukasa-chan. Oh, you can leave your clothes over there, I’ll put them in the washing machine later.”

Tsukasa didn’t know what a  _ washing machine _ was, but he placed his clothes where he had been told, on top of a weird white box in a corner near the kitchen.

“You don’t have to wash my clothes, though.” He said, even though he did as Arashi told him. He had never washed his own clothes before, but to make someone else who he didn’t know, and who wasn’t his servant, do it for him - especially someone who was already helping him giving him shelter and food -, it wasn’t fair to Arashi. 

However, Arashi giggled.

“I won’t exactly do it, don’t worry.” He smiled at him. “Ah, where you come from I bet people wash clothes by hand, right? I’ll show you later, using a washing machine is a looot more practical.”

“I… see…” He didn’t understand, but he decided not to argue. He didn’t know anything about this world, anyway. “Again, thank you for the clothes, Leo-san.”

Even though he had talked to him, Leo didn’t even acknowledge him, still concentrated on what he was drawing. Tsukasa frowned, concerned, wondering if he had done something to be ignored.

“Leo-san?”

“It’s useless to talk to him when he’s composing.” Tsukasa was surprised at the sudden voice, and turned around to see Izumi had finally left his room. He walked towards the kitchen and started opening the cabinets. “He doesn’t listen to anyone when he’s like this. And it’s better like this, anyway. Unless he’s scribbling where he shouldn’t, just leave him be.” He grabbed some plates from the cabinet and looked at Tsukasa. “Here, come help me set up the table.”

Setting the table was usually work for the servants, so Tsukasa had never done it before. But he didn’t have the luxury to just sit around waiting for dinner to be served now, so he quietly obeyed and accepted the plates Izumi gave him, taking them to the table. He realized then that Leo’s papers were occupying half of the table.

“Umm, Leo-san? We need to set the table, can you please take these papers away from here?” Again, no answer. Tsukasa frowned. “Leo-san!”

When he still didn’t move, Tsukasa sighed heavily. He understood he was a mere guest there, but this was annoying. He really hated being ignored. Setting the plates on an unoccupied corner of the table, he started picking Leo’s papers to put them away.

“What even are these?” He muttered.

“Music scores.” Arashi told him. “He’s composing a song for us.” He smiled fondly, “He had been having a hard time with it recently, so it’s nice seeing him finally having fun with it again~.”

“Is that so?” Tsukasa hummed, putting the pile of papers carefully on the countertop that separated the small kitchen from the main room. “So is Leo-san a bard?”

“A bard?” Izumi frowned at him as he placed cups on the table. “He’s an idol. We all are here.”

“Idol?”

“Mhm, we sing and dance on a stage,” Ritsu explained to him, bringing a steaming stewpot to the table. The scent made Tsukasa’s stomach growl again. “Ah, right, we’ll have a live in two days, so Suuchan should come and see it~.”

“A live?” Tsukasa was unfamiliar with the term.

“A performance.” Izumi said with annoyance, as if upset that Tsukasa didn’t understand the words they said. “But don’t bother. Hopefully you’ll be on your way home by then.”

Tsukasa stayed quiet, but he couldn’t help but think that he wanted to see it. He remembered his parents had received singers in their castle sometimes, and he always enjoyed having them around. He had never seen any of them composing, though, so he was definitely curious about Leo composing songs. And how would be look like singing them?

_ If I’m still here in two days, I want to see their performance _ .

Eventually, Izumi grabbed the papers away from Leo, scolding him because “It’s dinner time, you can finish this later!”, which led to Leo growling and cursing at him. Izumi just ignored him and sat down to eat, with Ritsu and Arashi joining them after putting pots and pans with food on the table.

The table was smaller than Tsukasa was used to, and the food was something he had never seen before (curry, Ritsu had called it). Sitting there quietly between Leo and Arashi, he felt extremely lonely, more than he had felt on his first day in the Himemiya castle. Especially watching the four of them interacting, almost like they were a family. Tsukasa wondered for how long they had been living together.

After dinner was over, Izumi dragged Leo to help him wash the dishes, while Arashi showed Tsukasa how the washing machine worked. He was fascinated with it, which Arashi found extremely amusing.

“It’s really useful, right?” He commented, giggling while seeing Tsukasa leaning over the washing machine to watch the clothes being spun around inside it.

“It is.” He muttered, amazed. “The person who invented this must be a genius.”

This earned him more giggles from Arashi.

“I guess~.” He shrugged. “Come, I’ll get you a futon. Has Leo-chan cleaned up his room already?”

“... If you can call that cleaning up.” He  _ had _ picked up the things thrown on the floor, but in Tsukasa’s opinion, the room was still messy. He was reluctant to talk about his hosts like this, but Arashi only laughed, shaking his head.

“That’s to be expected of Leo-chan. Though he’s getting better if he actually tried to clean up the room for you. When he first brought Ritsu-chan here, he slept on the couch because he refused to enter that room.”

“Ritsu-san…?” Tsukasa muttered, and then remembered Leo had said something about bringing other people over before. He was curious, but he thought it would be rude to ask too much, especially if not to the person himself, so he decided not to think about it for now.

Arashi picked the said futon from a cabinet in his room and brought it to Leo’s room, where he spread it on the ground near Leo’s bed.

“Mm, seems good.” He put his hands on his hips, nodding to himself. “I’m sorry about making you sleep on the ground, Tsukasa-chan…”

“It is not a problem at all!” Tsukasa hurriedly reassured him. “I am grateful for you all letting me stay here for the night. Having a place to sleep is more than I could ask for.”

“Well, aren’t you cute?” Arashi smiled fondly at him. “You can stay here for as long as you need, okay? Don’t worry about Izumi-chan, if you need anything just ask onee-chan here~.”

“Onee-chan?” Tsukasa tilted his head, confused. “Aren’t you a man, though?”

“Don’t worry about those small details.” Arashi waved his hand dismissively. Tsukasa wanted to say that this wasn’t a small detail at all. Arashi definitely looked like a man around his age, short blond hair, tall and with broad shoulders. But if Arashi was actually a lady, then Tsukasa had been rude all this time unknowingly.

He opened his mouth to ask again, but Arashi was already leaving the room, waving at him.

“I’m going to get you a pillow, okay~? Ah, and some sheets too. I’ll be right back!”

And with that, Tsukasa was left alone in Leo’s room. He shuffled on his feet, feeling uncomfortable, and finally decided to walk to the window to look outside again. The buildings viewed from here were the same as the ones he saw from the window in the main room, tall and straight, looking more like sharp towers than anything else. There were a lot of them too, and Tsukasa had never seen so many towers close to each other before.

_ This really is a strange world _ , he thought.

The door opened again, but when he turned around he saw it wasn’t Arashi. Leo entered his room instead, carrying a pillow and some sheets, his own papers piled on top of it.

“Hey, Suo~! Enjoying the view? Naru sent this for you!”

“Ah… thank you.” He watched as Leo dropped the pillow and sheets on the futon and then grabbed his papers, sitting carelessly on his bed with it. “Are you going to compose more?”

“Mmm, no! I’ve written a lot tonight!” He seemed proud of himself, and beamed at Tsukasa. “All thanks to you! Thanks Suo~.”

“M-me?” Tsukasa was flustered for a moment, feeling his cheeks heating up as Leo laughed merrily and threw his papers to the air.

“Yes! Because of you I’ve finally got inspiration to compose! Aah, I could write a huge masterpiece right now…!” He lowered his arms then and sighed. “But Sena said I have to go sleep. Well, I do have work in the morning but… grrr! I want to compose!”

Tsukasa blinked, confused beyond words. He didn’t understand very well, but he supposed if Leo could compose because of him, then that was a good thing, right? He watched as Leo started picking up his papers again and put them away on his nightstand.

He quietly made his way to his futon and lied down on it, covering himself with the sheets. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as he had thought it would be, as when he heard Leo humming a song as he prepared himself to sleep, he thought to himself,  _ this isn’t bad at all. _

Then he reminded himself why he was even here at all, and frowned thinking of his own situation. Tomorrow he would have to find a way to go back home and find Tori - assuming he was even still alive, that is. He turned on his side, closing his eyes and trying to force himself not to think.

Slowly, lulled by the sound of Leo’s humming, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Tsukasa is hard, and even harder here because he isn't supposed to know some modern stuff, but it was still fun to write! lol
> 
> Btw, y'all can follow me on Twitter @theuglyfairy if you want~ I don't bite, just scream about Tsukasa 24/7 xD


	3. Chapter 3

Tsukasa dreamed of the feast.

The Himemiya family always loved feasts, loved flaunting how rich they were, having everyone adoring them - as if being the monarchs wasn’t already enough. Tsukasa was always irritated by them, and most of all by Tori, the bane of his existence since they were kids.

This didn’t mean he wanted them to die, though. Seeing the king and the queen being murdered in front of them in the middle of the feast was horrifying, and he was paralyzed, unable to move as he watched it happen. It took the attackers turning on him, the guard of the prince, for him to finally move, and he was only able to escape with Tori because Yuzuru helped them.

Just as his mind was bringing forth the memory of them escaping, Tori protesting in his arms while Yuzuru guided them, their pursuers chasing after them, he finally woke up.

The white ceiling above him was unfamiliar. He stared at it quietly, trying to breath, his body covered in cold sweat. Then he heard a familiar humming… _Oh that’s right, this is the song Leo-san was humming last night_.

He shifted on his futon to take a look at Leo, who was going through his pile of discarded clothes, obviously searching for something. His orange hair that had been on a ponytail last night now fell messily around his shoulders.

Then he looked up, as if sensing Tsukasa’s stare, and smiled at him when their eyes met.

“Suo! Good morning~.”

“Good morning, Leo-san.” Tsukasa sat up slowly, feeling his muscles ache. The escape seemed to have happened so long ago, but it had been only yesterday, and his body was still sore from all the fighting and running.

“Did you sleep well? You seemed to be having a nightmare, but I didn’t want to wake you up, you looked tired last night.”

“... Something like that.” He didn’t want to elaborate, so he tried to change the topic. “What are you doing, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Looking for my uniform.” Leo went back to his pile. “I could be sure my shirt was somewhere- aha, right here!” He pulled a blue shirt from the pile and held it up as a trophy. “Sena would be very mad at me if I lost it.”

Tsukasa didn’t know how to answer that, so he just watched as Leo started taking off his shirt to dress the one he had just found. He stared at the pile of clothes with a frown, wondering if they were dirty or not. Leo laughed when he noticed his stare.

“Don’t worry, Naru will put them in the washing machine later! It’s her turn today.”

Hearing about Arashi reminded Tsukasa about their conversation last night, and before he could help it, he found himself asking:

“Leo-san, about Narukami-san… is Narukami-san a man or a woman?”

Leo stopped and looked at him, and Tsukasa couldn’t read his expression at all but he had a feeling he had asked something he shouldn’t.

“Why?” Leo asked cautiously. “Did you say something to her yesterday?”

Tsukasa hesitated, but finally told Leo about the exchange he had with Arashi the night before. Leo listened quietly and hummed.

“I see, so this is what it is about.” He nodded. “Yeah, for all effects, Naru is a woman. But some people can’t understand that, so she doesn’t correct people very often. She’ll usually just laugh and act as if you said something funny if you treat her as a man.” He then stared seriously at Tsukasa. “Don’t ever do that, though. She might not show it, but she seriously gets sad.”

“I… I understand.” He didn’t, really, but he felt like it wasn’t his place to argue about it. If Arashi felt like a woman, the only thing he could do was respect that. The last thing he wanted to do now was to offend one of his hosts.

“Good.” Leo smiled and moved closer to him to pat his shoulder. “As long as you treat her with respect, you’ll be fine!”

“Of course, I would never be rude to Narukami-san.” Tsukasa quickly reassured him.

“Good boy~” Leo patted his head, which made Tsukasa feel like a little kid. His displeasure must have show in his face, because Leo laughed. “C’mon, let’s have breakfast! Sena is the one in charge of it today, and he makes the best omelettes!”

Tsukasa had no idea what omelettes were, but it turned out to be eggs. Izumi was preparing them when he and Leo left the room, and Tsukasa couldn’t help but lean over Izumi’s shoulder to stare curiously as he did it. Eventually he noticed Izumi was making an upset face, so he moved to the table while Leo laughed.

“Watching Sena cooking is always fun, isn’t it?” He asked as Tsukasa sat down, his face burning red with embarrassment.

“It’s annoying!” Izumi snapped from the kitchen. “You always do that too, Leo-kun, and I keep telling you to let me cook in peace.”

“Mm, no.”

Izumi’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance and, for a second, Tsukasa feared he was going to throw the pan at Leo. Before that could happen, though, they heard the sound of a door opening and someone dragging their feet towards them.

“Good morning…” Ritsu yawned as he flopped down on a chair beside Tsukasa and immediately leaned forward to lay his head on his arms on the table.

“Good morning, Rittsu! You’re up early.” Leo noted, leaning over Tsukasa to poke at Ritsu’s cheek. Ritsu slapped his hand away and opened one eye to stare at him.

“I have work soon.” He mumbled. “Nhh, I’d like to sleep more, though…”

“Sleep at night like a normal person.” Izumi said.

“Secchan, you look nice today.” Ritsu shifted his head to look at Izumi. “Do you have modeling work?”

Tsukasa had no idea what modeling meant, but no one explained it to him, talking about things he didn’t understand as if he wasn’t there. Eventually Arashi joined them and they all sat down to eat the food Izumi has made for them. Tsukasa poked at the omelette on his plate, unsure about its appearance, but ended up liking it when he finally tasted it. Meanwhile, Leo kept stealing pieces from Izumi’s omelette after having finished his own.

“Leo-kun!”

“What?” Leo whined.

“Come on, don’t fight, you two.” Arashi gave them a stern look.

“Yeah, Suuchan will think all we ever do is fight here.” Ritsu said, leaning his cheek on his hand and staring amusedly at Izumi.

“What does it matter what the newbie thinks of us?” Izumi grunted.

“Secchan sure is in a bad mood today,” Ritsu commented with a smile. “Don’t worry, Secchan, we will find a way to help Suuchan and everything will be alright~.”

“Yeah, you do that.” Izumi pushed himself up. “But in the meanwhile,” He looked at Tsukasa. “You help Naru-kun with the house tasks today, Kasa-kun.”

“... Kasa-kun?”

“Yeah, whatever your name was.”

Tsukasa wanted to retort - having Izumi and Ritsu, and even Leo, not even using his name… It hurt. But as he watched Izumi leave the house, he found he couldn’t use his voice. He lowered his eyes to his plate, feeling an ache in his chest. He never felt so lonely before. At this point, he would do anything to have someone familiar talk to him, even Tori.

Thinking of Tori hurt even more, reminding him of his failure as a knight and as a friend.

“It’s okay, Tsukasa-chan.” Arashi’s voice was soft, and he looked up to see her smiling at him. “Leo-chan and Ritsu-chan will have to leave soon, so it will be only the two of us, but there isn’t much to do today. We mostly have to wash the dishes and prepare dinner.”

“Don’t you have to work too, Narukami-san?”

“No, I’m free for today~.” She seemed happy with that, and Tsukasa wondered when was the last time she had free time. “Also, a friend is coming over today to deliver some clothes for our live.”

“Ah, right, Mikarin is coming here.” Ritsu hummed. “Hhh, I’ll still be at work when he comes… Well, at least Suuchan will be here to watch you two.”

“What does this _mean_ ?” Arashi asked sounding offended, and Tsukasa noticed her cheeks turning red. Seeing Ritsu smirking instead of answering, he suddenly wondered if this person was maybe more than a _friend_.

“Naru doesn’t need to be watched though, she can take care of herself,” Leo commented happily. “Just don’t do anything indecent in front of Suo~!”

“What-… Can you two please stop? What will Tsukasa-chan think of me?!”

Leo and Ritsu laughed, but Arashi seemed really embarrassed. Tsukasa cleared his throat to call their attention.

“I think discussing someone else’s particular life like this in front of a stranger is really _rude_ of you two.” He said frowning at them. Leo blinked at him, confused, but Ritsu merely chuckled.

“Aren’t you a cute knight in a shiny armor?” He commented. “But you’re right, sorry Nacchan~.”

“Honestly…” Arashi shook her head, her face still very red. “Just finish eating and go, okay? You don’t want to be late to your work.”

* * *

Izumi was really, really tired.

He had already spent the morning doing a photo shoot with people he hated - and who most definitely despised him as well - but it was work he couldn’t afford to refuse at this point. Then he had spent his lunch break doing research on the stranger Leo had brought home, wasting his time and yet getting no answers at all. And And at his job in the coffee shop in the afternoon, he was yelled at by an angry customer for taking too long with his order.

As he left the coffee shop by the end of his shift, Izumi wondered for how much longer he could keep up with this. Sighing, he shook his head and pulled out his phone, calling Arashi while he walked towards the train station.

“Naru,” He said when she picked up, “Are you with Kasa-kun right now?”

“Yes, we’re preparing dinner~.” She said happily, “Why?”

He hummed. “Can you step away from him for a moment?”

“... Sure.” He waited while she moved. “Alright, I’m in my bedroom. What’s up?”

“I went to the nearby hospitals,” He said, ignoring her sound of complaint. “None of them had any missing patients from the psychiatric yard, so unless his family was keeping him locked in their house without telling anyone…”

“Izumi-chan…”

“You’re not going to tell me you believe his story, will you?” He didn’t wait for a response, “Anyway, I also looked up his name but couldn’t find any recordings of a Suou Tsukasa that fit his description anywhere in Japan. So he’s probably lying about his name too.”

“I don’t think he’s lying about anything.” Arashi sounded unusually serious. “I talked a lot to him today, and he seemed to really believe everything he says. I know it sounds crazy, but I really believe in him, Izumi-chan. And like, if he was going to lie, why even come up with such an unbelievable lie? If he ran away from somewhere and wanted to lie, he would have said something we could believe, not that he came from a fantasy world or something.”

Izumi frowned, not wanting to admit that she had a point. What was the point of lying about that? Just to make fun of them? It didn’t make sense. However, it was still hard for him to believe that story. There had to be something more to it and he was decided to find out.

“Whatever,” He finally said, “It’s not like we have any way to find out the truth now, so I’m going back home.”

“Alright~ We’ll be waiting for you with a warm meal!”

“Ugh, stop talking like that.” He sighed. “You kept your eyes on him all the time, right? I don’t want him doing anything weird.”

“Don’t be like that, he’s a good boy~ He helped me with the cleaning and cooking, you know? And he was really nice with Mika-chan too.”

“Is that so?” The mention of Mika reminded him of something else. “Speaking of Mika, how were the outfits? Was everything ok?”

“Yes, no problems at all! We’re ready for the live~”

“Good.” It was becoming harder and harder for them to find a place to perform, and with how hard it had been for Anzu to help them book a spot in that pub, he didn’t want anything to go wrong. “I’ll be home soon, keep watching Kasa-kun. Oh, and also, can you try to find out what size of clothes he wears?”

“... Are you going to buy him new clothes, Izumi-chan?” From her tone of voice, Izumi could almost _see_ her smirk. He groaned.

“Just do it, ok? And find out his shoes size as well.”

“Aw, aren’t you _cute_?” She giggled.

“Shut up!” He hung up before she could say anything else to embarrass him.

It’s not like he wanted to be nice to the new boy. He was just a stranger, after all. But they apparently wouldn’t get rid of him any soon, and having him walk around dressed in Leo’s clothes would just be weird (and he also _was not_ jealous of that either… Not at all!).

Telling himself that, he shoved his phone in his pocket and resumed walking towards the train station, wanting to be done with buying the clothes and go home as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh and here I go with changing pov's in the middle of the chapter lol I do that a lot, so don't be surprised when it happens~
> 
> I wanted to add some more Tsukasa and Arashi interactions, but I'm going to leave that to the next chapter. Also more Leokasa is coming too, don't worry~
> 
> This is gonna be reaaaal slow burn, so please have patience with me xD


	4. Chapter 4

Getting used to everything in this new world was a challenge to Tsukasa. Fortunately, Arashi was patient enough to explain to him everything he didn’t understand, teaching him about the house appliances and how to use them, about the _computer_ and _internet_ and how they could use it to find a way for him to go back to his world. After they were done with the chores, they spent a good part of the day researching about magic and magical portals, but the results were inconclusive. No one in this world seemed to believe in the existence of magic, and Tsukasa had a feeling even if it did exist, it would probably be too weak for him to find a portal back home.

Arashi insisted they would find a way, but Tsukasa still couldn’t help but feel hopeless. Unless they found a great magician - and he seriously doubted there was one in this world - the chances of him going back home were next to zero.

The rest of the day passed in a blur to him after that. Arashi’s friend, a young man named Mika with curious eyes, one blue and one yellow, appeared in the afternoon to deliver some clothes for them. Arashi explained that Mika had a fashion atelier with a friend (Tsukasa had no idea what that meant exactly, but he supposed they made clothes), and had given them a discount to make their outfits for their performance. Tsukasa didn’t talk to him too much, not wanting to intrude when he saw Mika and Arashi talking so cheerfully to each other.

Leo was the first to arrive home, a little before the sunset, barging through the door and scaring Tsukasa.

“I’m home!” He yelled, laughing when he saw Tsukasa jump from the couch. “Suo~, you’re supposed to say _welcome back_!”

“W-welcome back, Leo-san.” Tsukasa sat down again, watching as Leo took off his shoes and put on his slippers. “You didn’t have to enter yelling like that.”

“Sorry, sorry~ Where’s Naru?”

“In the bathroom. She wanted to take a bath before supper.”

Leo hummed, sitting down beside Tsukasa. His hair was messy and his cheeks were flushed as if he had run all the way there.

“Did you help her with the house tasks?”

“Of course!” His answer was met with another pat to his head, which made him glare at Leo, who laughed.

“Good boy, good boy~ Is dinner ready? I’m starving!”

“It’s not dinner time yet, though.”

“But I’m hungry!” Leo whined, and threw himself sideways to lay his head on Tsukasa’s lap, ignoring his sounds of protests. “Hey, I wrote another song!”

Tsukasa blinked, confused with the sudden change of topic.

“I’m… glad for you?”

“It’s a masterpiece!” Leo continued, closing his eyes and laughing. “Aah, I can’t wait for Sena to write the lyrics! Everyone is gonna love it! And then…” His voice turned soft and he opened his eyes, reaching a hand upwards, as if trying to grab something. “And then…”

Tsukasa had no idea what Leo wanted to say, but he didn’t even seem to be talking to Tsukasa anymore. Hesitant, Tsukasa slowly placed a hand on Leo’s head, his fingers stroking the orange strands gently.

“I don’t know what you want,” He said in a low voice, “But I’m sure you can do it, Leo-san.”

Leo looked at him, blinking for a few seconds as if just now noticing he was there. Then he opened a bright smile at him.

“Suo~ tell me more stories from your world! I’m sure I can write a hundred, no, a thousand songs only from that!”

Tsukasa tucked a strand of hair behind Leo’s ear, watching the way his green eyes sparkled as he talked about his songs. He was such a weird and fascinating person.

“Sure, Leo-san.”

“Oh? What a cute scene~”

Tsukasa turned his head to see Arashi joining them in the living room, a towel wrapped around her shoulders.

“Welcome back, Leo-chan.”

“Naru! I’m home!” Leo craned his neck back to stare at Arashi without having to leave Tsukasa’s lap. “Hasn’t Sena arrived yet?”

“Mm, no,” Arashi looked at Tsukasa for some reason and then giggled, “He said he had to stop somewhere before coming home. I bet Ritsu-chan will arrive first.”

Leo sighed, pouting.

“I wanted Sena to see my new song soon…” He pouted like a little child.

“Another? You’re really on a roll,” Arashi commented as she headed to the kitchen and started heating the dinner. Tsukasa made mention to get up to help her, but she quickly said, “Oh it’s okay, Tsukasa-chan, you already helped a lot today~”

“Are you sure…?” He asked, though he didn’t know if he could get up now as Leo had wrapped his arms around his waist and was whining about how Tsukasa should stay with him.

“Yeah, it’s okay.” Arashi winked at him, “Instead, keep our troublesome king at bay, will you?”

It took him a few seconds to realize by _king_ she was referring to Leo. He wondered if there was a story behind that nickname, but before he could inquire about it, the door opened again.

“I’m home.”

“Sena!” Leo scrambled to sit up and look over the back of the couch, smiling at Izumi as he changed shoes. “Welcome home! I have a new song, please write the lyrics for it~”

“Another one?” For some reason, Izumi stared at Tsukasa with annoyance. As he approached the couch, Tsukasa noticed he was carrying a few bags. “I’ll take a look at them later, but you really should decide on which one you want us to perform.”

“Nnnh, can’t it be all of them?” Leo puffed out his cheeks. “I want us four to sing them together!”

“We’ll have other chances to perform the other songs, hopefully.” He then shoved the bags into Tsukasa’s arms. “Here.”

Tsukasa held the bags, confused, and peered into them to find clothes.

“Umm…” He looked at Izumi. “Are these… for me?”

“Yes.” Izumi said reluctantly. “Since you’ll stay here for a while and Leo-kun will probably drag you to the live with us tomorrow, it’s best if you have your own clothes.”

“... Thank you, Izumi-san.” His voice was small, barely above a whisper. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful, he was really happy Izumi had thought of giving him new clothes, but the mention of having to stay there for a while… As much as he was interested in this new world, he couldn’t help but feel like it was his duty to go back home. After all, if he didn’t, what kind of knight would he be?

“Suo?”

“What’s wrong now? H-hey, are you crying?”

Tsukasa looked up at the concerned tone in Izumi’s and Leo’s voices, and only then noticed his vision was blurred. He raised a hand and touched his cheek, feeling the moisture as he caught a tear.

“I… I apologize.” He quickly wiped away the tears, feeling upset at himself. Hadn’t he been taught before not to cry where others could see him? Now more than ever he needed to be strong. “I am just…”

He trailed off, not knowing what to say, but before he could continue, Leo patted his head again.

“There, there.” He said, “It must be really difficult for you, right? Being away from home. It’s alright, you’re not alone, y’know~”

Something in the way he said that felt like breaking a dam; before Tsukasa could stop himself, he was doubling over, hiding his face in his hands as tears slid down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking as he tried to stifle his sobs. Leo’s hand kept caressing his hair, as if he was trying to comfort him, and he could hear Leo and Izumi discussing something although he couldn’t make out the exact words.

“Hey, are you two making him cry?” It was Arashi, her voice sounding angry. “I can’t believe this!”

“We didn’t do anything! He just started crying on his own!”

“It’s because you were making a scary face, Sena, wahaha!”

“Huh? Say it again?!”

“Stop fighting, you two!” Another hand, gentler, touched his face, and Tsukasa looked up to see Arashi had knelt in front of him. “Are you alright, Tsukasa-chan? If you need to talk, you can talk to us, you know?”

“He’s probably just feeling homesick,” Leo said. “Right, Suo? You miss home, right?”

“Let him speak for himself, Leo-kun.”

Tsukasa tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept spilling from his eyes, and he didn’t trust his own voice now. He was pretty sure if he tried to say something, his voice would break and he would just sound pathetic, more than he already looked.

What would his father say if he could see him right now? He could almost see the look of disappointment on his face. This only made more tears spill, and he covered his eyes again.

“I’m sorry…” He half whispered, half sobbed, “Father, I’m s… sorry…”

* * *

Leo looked without knowing what to do as Tsukasa kept crying, trying to muffle his sobs behind his hands. He kept awkwardly patting Tsukasa’s head, wishing he could do something more helpful.

Although he knew the best right now would probably be to just let him cry. He understood very well that it was better to let everything out instead of holding in, concealing the negative feelings until you explode.

He looked at Izumi, standing there with a flustered look on his face, probably feeling like he had said something that made Tsukasa cry - not that he would ever admit it, Leo knew. Arashi was still kneeling in front of Tsukasa, whispering words of comfort to him; she was way better at this than Leo. It always amazed him how quick she was to help others when they felt sad.

He turned his head when he heard the door open and a lazy, “I’m home~” Ritsu stopped in the entrance when he saw the scene, the three of them huddled around a sobbing Tsukasa. “Did I miss something?”

“Rittsu! Welcome home,” Leo said, waving at him, “Suo is homesick.”

Ritsu hummed, walking towards the couch to pat Tsukasa’s head. Only then Tsukasa suddenly stood up, still rubbing his eyes.

“I-I apologize for this,” He stuttered, grabbing the shopping bag Izumi had given him. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go, uh, take a bath before dinner.”

And with that he hurried away from them, and soon after Leo heard the sound of the bathroom door being slammed closed. The four of them stared at each other for a second.

“Poor boy,” Arashi sighed, standing up too. “Well, I’ll finish heating up dinner. Maybe eating something will cheer him up.”

“I doubt it.” Izumi said, but joined Arashi in the kitchen.

Ritsu threw himself on the couch beside Leo, just where Tsukasa had been.

“Tsukippi,” He muttered, “What do you think of him?”

“Hm?” Leo tilted his head to the side, confused.

“Suuchan.” Ritsu collapsed sideways, laying his head on Leo’s lap and closing his eyes. “Do you believe in him?”

Leo reflected a bit, thinking of the way Tsukasa had cried, whispering apologies to his own father. His head was being filled with new melodies, this time sad and bittersweet, so he quickly tried to forget them. He didn’t need anymore sad songs than he already had.

“Does it matter?” He finally answered. “I believe he is lost, just like the four of us.” He looked over at Izumi and Arashi bickering in the kitchen, his hand distractedly caressing Ritsu’s hair. “I want to help him, if I can. But if I can’t…”

“Will you let him stay here?”

When Leo looked at him, he saw Ritsu was smirking up at him. He chuckled.

“Why not?”

Izumi would complain a lot, and things would be more difficult considering Tsukasa apparently didn’t know how anything in this world worked, but Leo was sure the days would be more fun with the five of them. Although, thinking that made him feel bad a little - after all, if Tsukasa missed his home so much to the point of crying… 

There wasn’t much he could do on his own, though. He would ask Izumi later on how they could help Tsukasa, he was sure if it was someone like Izumi they could do it. But for now, he had something more important coming up.

After all, their next live would be tomorrow, and he couldn’t wait to show everyone his new song - and to show Tsukasa what an idol was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh sorry Tsukasa my son for making u cry lol
> 
> Next chapter we might have the first glimpse into Knights as idols. What will Tsukasa think~?


	5. Chapter 5

When the first rays of sunlight came in through Leo’s window, he still hadn’t gone to sleep. The last night, he had sat on the floor next to Tsukasa’s futon, listening as the weird self-proclaimed knight told him stories of his fantasy world until he fell asleep. Leo’s mind was too filled with new melodies though, so instead of sleeping too he grabbed some papers and started composing, as he tried to imagine the world Tsukasa had described to him.

He still wasn’t sure if he could believe in what Tsukasa said, but at the very least he didn’t sound like a liar. And Leo was still pretty sure he had seen something weird on the sky right before Tsukasa fell on him. Was that the magical portal Tsukasa had talked about? His imagination ran wild as he thought about the possibility of finding a portal that leads to another world.

However, the thought of being stranded forever in another world was a little sad. He would miss Izumi, and Arashi, and Ritsu, and he would never be able to see his parents or Ruka again… When he thought like that, he could understand a bit the sadness Tsukasa must’ve been feeling.

The sound of movement outside of the room made him look up. Izumi must be awake. Leo looked down at his newly composed songs, humming to himself before deciding to go help Izumi with the breakfast. He got up, but stopped, holding his breath, when he heard Tsukasa shift on the futon. He looked at Tsukasa, seeing he was still sleeping, but mumbling something Leo couldn’t understand. His expression was troubled, and Leo wondered if he was having another nightmare.

Tsukasa had been really quiet during dinner the past night, but Leo knew he was still sad. He had asked him about his world before sleep exactly because he was trying to find a way to cheer him up. He liked how Tsukasa’s eyes lit up while talking about the castles he saw, the lands he traveled through on his way to the royal palace, the time he saw a real dragon up close…

He was about to pick up his sheets to write another song when he heard a sound coming from the kitchen, and remembered he had decided to help Izumi. Quietly, he stepped out of the room and then made his way to the kitchen.

“Sena! Good morning!” He threw his arms around Izumi, feeling as he jumped from being surprised.

“Leo-kun! Stop yelling, everyone is still sleeping.” Izumi scowled at him. Even scowling, he was still probably the most beautiful person Leo had ever seen. He stepped away, waiting, and giggled when Izumi sighed, “Good morning. You’re up early.”

He almost said he didn’t sleep at all, but he figured this would only make Izumi upset.

“I’m excited about the live!” He said instead. “Let’s sing one of the new songs-”

“No.”

“Why?” He whined. He couldn’t help it. He was so excited to sing the new songs with everyone!

“Because we didn’t have time to practice them yet.” Izumi looked at him, his blue eyes as serious as ever. For some reason, Leo felt an ache in his chest. Before, he could write a thousand songs about those eyes. When was it that he stopped doing that?

“We could just improvise it…” He pouted.

“We can’t keep improvising all the time, Leo-kun!” Izumi placed - or more like banged the frying pan on the stove, making a loud sound which startled the both of them. They stayed very quiet for a few seconds, listening for sounds of the others waking up, but the apartment remained silent. Izumi sighed. “I’m sorry.” He started making their omelettes, avoiding Leo’s eyes. “You know how difficult it was for Anzu to book this live house for us, right? If we mess up, it will bring problems for her too, not only for us.”

“... I know it.” They hadn’t managed to book a live anywhere for months. Nobody wanted to be associated with them anymore, which made it difficult to find a place to perform.

And Leo knew Izumi blamed himself for it. Even though he and the others had assured him so many times it wasn’t his fault.

“We’ll sing those songs another time.” Izumi continued. “At the festival, maybe. You wanted to sing something new there, right? We still have one month to practice them. If we’re gonna do it, let’s make it perfect.”

“... Alright.” Leo forced himself to smile when Izumi looked at him. He didn’t want Izumi to feel even more guilty. “Can I help you with breakfast?”

They stayed quiet at they prepared the breakfast, Leo silently following Izumi’s instructions. After a while, they heard footsteps, and Leo raised his eyes to see Tsukasa timidly approaching.

“Good morning, Suo~!”

“Good morning, Leo-san, Izumi-san.” He was still wearing the old clothes Leo had given him to sleep, that green alien shirt that had been a gift from Izumi. “Are the others still asleep?”

“Kuma-kun, probably.” Izumi wasn’t even looking at him as he spoke. “Naru-kun is probably doing her skin care routine.”

Tsukasa made that confused face of when he didn’t understand something, but Izumi as usual didn’t explain. Leo beckoned him closer.

“Come help me set the table, Suo~!”

It was cute how obedient Tsukasa was, Leo thought as they set the table together. He was always so polite too… Truly like a knight from a fantasy land. 

Ritsu and Arashi soon came out of their rooms and they all sat down to have breakfast together. While Leo babbled excitedly about the live, Tsukasa stared at him with an expression of confusion, likely not understanding a word of what he was saying.

“You will help Anzu with the preparations for the live, right, Leo-kun?” Izumi interrupted his rambling. “Remember this was our agreement with the owner of the live house to let us perform there.”

“I remember it.” Leo didn’t, but he wouldn’t admit it so easily. “I will be the only one helping, though? You all will work today.”

“Maa-kun said they’ll let me go earlier today,” Ritsu said holding back a yawn. “So I’ll show up in the afternoon to help out too.”

“You could take Tsukasa-chan with you, Leo-chan.” Arashi suggested. “I’m sure he’ll find it boring to stay here alone the whole day, and this also saves us time from having to come pick him up later.”

“Ooh, great idea, Naru!” Leo turned to Tsukasa with a big smile. “You’ll help too, right, Suo?”

“S-sure.” Tsukasa, ever polite, agreed immediately. “If you will guide me in what I need to do, it will be my pleasure to help as best as I can.”

“Fufu, so eager to help, how cute.” Ritsu smirked lazily at him. “It will be a lot of hard work, so be prepared, Suuchan~.”

* * *

Walking outside with Tsukasa was absolutely hilarious, Leo quickly found out. The self-proclaimed knight wouldn’t stop gaping at everything, looking as if he was seeing the most wonderful thing ever. Leo had to remind himself that all of this was new for Tsukasa, who had come from a world where there were no cars or any of the sort, but it was kind of impossible not to laugh at certain moments, like when Tsukasa got terrified of the train and clung to Leo’s arm like a little child.

“Will you  _ stop _ laughing at that already, please?” Tsukasa asked, sounding humiliated, when they left the train and started making their way to the live house; Leo was still giggling randomly whenever he remembered the scene.

“Sorry, sorry.” He held back another chuckle when Tsukasa pouted at him. “It was just too funny!”

Tsukasa gave him a wounded look. “I didn’t know it wasn’t a monster! It sounded like one!”

“I’m sure it did.” Leo’s eyes glimmered as his mind started traveling down a different path. “Ooh, it would be so cool, wouldn’t it? A metal monster in the middle of the city! Only a knight without a sword to defeat it! Inspiration, it’s coming~!”

He suddenly stopped and pulled out a marker from the pocket of his coat, and was about to drop to his knees to start writing on the floor when Tsukasa grabbed him by the elbow.

“Leo-san! What are you doing?”

“Grr, let me go! I gotta write this song down before my inspiration disappears!” He tried to pull away from Tsukasa’s hand, but his grip was firm and insistent.

“Can’t you wait until we arrive to our destination?” Tsukasa sounded frustrated, throwing embarrassed looks around them. “We are getting in the way of people, we can’t just stand here like this.”

Leo blinked for a second, finally remembering they were in the middle of a busy sidewalk and there were people walking around them, throwing ugly looks in their direction because they were blocking the way.

“Hhhn, Suo you’ve ruined my masterpiece!” He pouted and pulled his arm away from Tsukasa’s grasp, walking ahead of him. Tsukasa made an offended sound and soon caught up to him.

“I don’t see why you are upset,” He ranted as he struggled to keep up with Leo’s pace, “In fact, I should be the one upset here, since you were slowing us down.”

Well, Leo couldn’t argue against that… but a lost song was a lost song!

“Suo, you don’t  _ understand _ .” He stopped, and Tsukasa nearly crashed into him, stammering.

“What did you stop for now?”

“We’re here.” He announced, pointing towards the building in front of them. Squeezed between a clothes store and a coffee shop, the Yume Live House seemed small from the outside, but Leo knew it was bigger inside, as it went underground.

“Here…?” Tsukasa eyed the building Leo pointed to, his cute expression twisting into a frown. “It’s… small.”

Leo couldn’t help but laugh, “It looks like it, doesn’t it? Let’s go inside!”

Their squabble from before now forgotten, now Leo grabbed Tsukasa’s wrist and dragged him towards the live house. He pushed the glass doors open and looked around the mostly empty reception, where only a small brown-haired girl sat behind a balcony.

“Anzu!” He said cheerfully, waving his free hand at her. “Uchuu~!”

“Leo-san, uchuu~.” Anzu looked tired, but she still answered his enthusiastic greeting with a smile. Leo wondered if she had been working until late again. “Who’s this person with you?”

Tsukasa shifted a bit uncomfortable under her curious gaze, and Leo noticed he was blushing. He covered his mouth with a hand to hide his chuckle.

“This is Suo~. He’s staying with us for a while!” He didn’t want to go into details, as Izumi had advised him to not mention Tsukasa’s situation or someone would want to put him into a hospice.

“Excuse me,” Tsukasa gave him an offended glance. “At least introduce me properly?” He turned towards Anzu and gave her a charming smile, seeming to have recomposed himself from his flustered state from earlier. “I am Suou Tsukasa. It is a pleasure to meet you, lady Anzu.”

“Lady…?” She tilted her head slightly, seeming confused, and Leo quickly tried to change the topic.

“Rittsu will come in the afternoon!” He said. “Sena and Naru will only arrive at night, though, sorry!”

“It’s alright, you two are already a great help.” Anzu gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry for making you help out like this, when you should be resting for the live.”

“It’s ok, it’s ok! Don’t worry about that!” This had been the condition the owner of Yume had set for them to perform there. They were understaffed that night, so Leo and the others would help with the pre-live preparations in exchange for being allowed to perform. “So, what is there for us to do?”

* * *

Tsukasa had expected their work to be a lot heavier, but it turned out to be simply a servant’s work: clean up the glass doors and windows, the rooms and the big underground saloon where the performances would happen. Leo was excited to show him the stage, and he kept on babbling about their performance later. Although Tsukasa didn’t understand much, he couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm.

He was also excited for the performance. He wondered what an  _ idol  _ was like, because from Leo’s words it was nothing like the singers and bards he was used to. Thinking about it kept his mind occupied for a good part of the day, and for the first time since he crossed that portal he didn’t think about Tori or his own failures.

Ritsu arrived in the afternoon, but after greeting them he crashed on a sofa in one of the rooms and slept for a good hour before Tsukasa managed to wake him up to help them - which involved Tsukasa almost getting bitten by Ritsu, and Leo laughing so much he almost choked. 

In the late afternoon, the performers started arriving. There would be three other groups aside from Leo’s to perform that night, and Anzu gave Tsukasa the task to check with all of them if all of the members were present. He couldn’t help but notice them throwing ugly looks at Leo and Ritsu whenever they saw the two.

“Do they dislike Leo-san and Ritsu-san?” He wondered aloud after checking with the last group, and Anzu, standing nearby, looked up at him.

“Haven’t they told you?” She asked, and hummed when Tsukasa shook his head. She frowned. “Well… It’s complicated. Knights are in a difficult situation, you see.” She looked over at where Leo was helping Ritsu prepare some food to be sold later. “It’s really sad seeing them having to humiliate themselves to be allowed to perform. They’re really great on stage.” She looked back at Tsukasa and gave him a tiny smile. “Leo-san said he wrote many songs since he met you.”

Tsukasa wondered what that had to do with their situation, but he nodded anyway.

“Yes, he keeps doodling on his papers nonstop.” He said, thinking about how hard it was to make Leo concentrate on anything else when he started composing. Anzu laughed.

“That’s good. Thank you, Suou-kun.”

“What are you thanking me for?” He tilted his head, confused, but Anzu only shook her head and became serious again.

“Listen, you might hear people saying some mean stuff about them tonight.” She said. “Whatever you hear, please don’t try to argue with anyone. This only upsets Izumi-san.”

Tsukasa didn’t understand what she meant with that, but she left without another word to keep doing her work, leaving him wondering what was that about. Thanks to growing up among nobles, he was good at staying quiet when hearing ill-intended gossips about other people, but he didn’t like the way Anzu said that. He had a feeling this would be worse than some court gossip.

He shook his head slightly. He had been educated to not answer to gossips. It’s useless to give them any attention, his father had always told him. The more you feed the gossips, the more they’ll spread. And yet…

_ There had been gossips and talks about how people were dissatisfied with Tori-kun’s family _ , a small voice whispered in his mind. Maybe if he had taken those seriously… But then he stopped that thought. Complaining to the king about court gossips wouldn’t have saved them from the usurper. And worrying about gossips about Leo and the others would only eat at him from the inside.

_ They’re not in any real danger _ , he tried to tell himself. This was not his world, and people would not try to kill them.

At least he hoped so.

“Stop that,” He muttered to himself. Leo and the others would be safe. And if he heard any mean words about them, he would just ignore it. He had spent two nights under their roof already, he could trust his own judgment of them better than that of someone who never lived with them.

Seeing he had no more work to do, he moved towards Ritsu and Leo to ask if they needed help, while trying to ignore the bad feeling creeping up his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long! I got... distracted lol
> 
> The live was gonna happen in this chapter, but then I thought this was gonna be way too long and I wanted to update soon, so I'm cutting this in half and leaving the live for the next chapter. Hopefully it won't take so long again (no promises though lol). See you next chapter~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for transphobia and slight slander. Proceed with care.

Tsukasa thought he knew what  _ loud _ was - he thought the tournaments back in his world were loud, with the ruffling of drums, the sound of the battles and the people screaming and cheering. That was nothing compared to this, though.

When the first performance started, he was terrified with how loud everything was, the song seeming to fill the whole place, bouncing back from the walls and echoing, the only thing almost as loud as that being the cheering from the crowd.

Then he was charmed. He had never seen a performance like this, with the people on stage singing and dancing at the same time. The lights in the saloon had been nearly all dimmed out, only the stage being lit, drawing in the eyes of everyone in the room.

He watched everything from the back, where he had a good view of the whole stage. He had wanted to stay with Leo and the others until it was their turn, but Leo had encouraged him to watch the other performances.

“This way you’ll see how much better than them we are.” He had said with a smug smile on his face.

Seeing the performers on stage and thinking that Leo could be better than them, Tsukasa was beyond excited. Although he still was nervous about Anzu’s words from earlier, he tried not to think about it too much.

The first performance ended, and the lights were turned on again as the performers left the stage. There would be a few minutes before the second performance, and then Leo and the others would be third. There were a few seats next to the bar where people could get drinks and snacks, and Tsukasa decided to sit there for a while. Anzu was behind the counter, and she flashed him a quick smile before going back to her work.

As the second performance started, he noticed Arashi’s friend, Mika, arriving accompanied by a tall, elegant pink-haired man. Mika waved at him, but didn’t move any closer, instead staying with his friend. Tsukasa felt a little more relieved; he had feared, from what Anzu said, that there wouldn’t be many people there to support Leo and the others, aside from himself.

Anzu placed a cup on the counter and slid it towards Tsukasa with a smile.

“You seem nervous, Tsukasa-kun.” It was hard to hear what she said with all the noise around them, but Tsukasa made an effort anyway.

“Do I?” He grabbed the cup and tentatively sipped the drink. It tasted like orange, but it made his tongue tingle.

“Don’t worry,” Anzu said. “Just have fun with the shows.”

He sipped more from the strange orange-flavored drink, looking back to the stage as the second performance came to an end. He couldn’t deny that he grew more and more nervous as time passed. He wished he had stayed in the backstage with Leo and the others; not being able to see them, to make sure they were alright, was making him anxious.

The lights dimmed again, and Tsukasa’s breath stopped for a moment as he watched Leo, Izumi, Arashi and Ritsu entering the stage. The outfits Mika had made for them fit them perfectly, he thought as he watched them move and take their positions on the stage. His eyes were glued on them, and they almost had his full attention until he noticed a strange chattering around him, like many people whispering to each other at once.

“Is that Knights?” Someone muttered next to him, and was answered with a snicker.

“They’ve got no shame, really.”

“That’s brave of them to still show their faces onstage.”

“Ugh, if I knew they would be performing tonight I wouldn’t have come.”

Tsukasa frowned at the group chattering next to him, but then the music started and he turned his eyes back to the stage.

He was immediately blown away by the change in Leo’s face. Tsukasa couldn’t point out exactly what was different, but he definitely didn’t look like the usual Leo, childish and reckless. This person moving and singing now had a different aura, like a seasoned warrior charging into battle. His expressions as he stared at the crowd, the way the moved, his singing voice, everything seemed to draw Tsukasa in, stealing his breath away and leaving him wonderstruck.

As the song progressed, although his eyes kept wandering back to Leo, he made sure to pay attention to the other three as well - Izumi with elegant moves, Arashi with a soft voice, and Ritsu with a seductive aura. Seeing the four of them moving together, Tsukasa understood what Leo meant when he said they were better than the other performers. It was not that the others were bad, but Leo, Izumi, Arashi and Ritsu had a special kind of shine together that made them stand out.

Tsukasa had seen many singers and bards, many dancers and performers back in his world, and yet none of them came any close to this. As the performance ended, he released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He noticed Leo’s eyes moving through the crowd until they met his own, and then Leo flashed a toothy grin at him before leaving the stage.

Only then, as the lights were turned on again, he noticed something: when the other performances had ended, people had clapped and even cheered, but right now he didn’t hear any of that. Instead there were people muttering and a few curses thrown here and there; he even heard someone booing. The only clapping he heard came from Mika, who he noticed had an anxious expression on his face.

“So?” The voice next to him made him jump, and he turned to see Anzu next to him on the other side of the counter again. “What did you think?”

“I…” Tsukasa blinked, trying to collect his thoughts. He couldn’t come up with words to explain how big of an impression the performance had left on him, so he just ended up saying lamely, “It was wonderful.”

Anzu smiled at him and nodded in agreement.

The last performance started, and this time the crowd seemed excited with it. Tsukasa tried to pay attention to it, but it didn’t have the same shine as Knights. Eventually he grew bored and, placing the now empty cup on the counter, he waved goodbye at Anzu and left the saloon.

The reception was relatively empty, and he sat on a small sofa near the glass window, watching the streets outside. He wanted to see Leo and the others soon, but he knew they were probably changing clothes now. His foot tapped impatiently on the floor while he waited, his head turning everytime a door opened, but it was never the staff’s door. Eventually people started to leave after the performances were over, some of them leaving the live house while others stayed in the reception talking to each other, commenting the performances. A small group of three people sat down next to Tsukasa talking loudly, and he tried to ignore them until he heard Leo’s name.

“...Tsukinaga could make it really big if he wanted to,” The girl was saying to her friends, “Did you hear him singing tonight?”

“I know right?” The other one sighed, “But he insists in staying with those three, ugh.”

“I mean,” The third one started, “If only that Narukami person wasn’t with them, I wouldn’t mind.”

“I feel you, it’s disgusting seeing him trying to act like a woman. If only he left the group...”

“Are you kidding? If you think he’s the worst thing in there... Haven’t you heard about Sena?”

“No…? The last I heard was  _ that _ scandal, what did he do this time?”

The first girl lowered her voice, but Tsukasa was still able to hear her whisper, “I heard he’s been whoring himself, how do you think he still gets modelling jobs after that happened?”

“Oh my God!”

“I don’t know why you’re surprised… Anyway, Tsukinaga will never go far with him around.”

“Maybe he’s still around because he’s Tsukinaga’s slut.” The girl who said this snickered, while the other two made disgusted sounds.

Tsukasa felt sick; he didn’t want to hear anything anymore. He stood up, and the three of them looked briefly at him before going back to their gossiping. He didn’t know where to go, only that he didn’t want to stay here any longer.

To his luck, right then he saw Leo and the others leaving through the staff’s door, and he almost ran to their side.

“Suo! There you are!” Leo grinned at him. “I thought you would get lost, wahaha!”

“How would that even happen…?” He sighed, shaking his head.

“Did something happen, Tsukasa-chan?” Arashi asked, and Tsukasa froze. “You look upset.”

“I do…?” He tugged at the hem of his shirt, biting the inside of his cheeks. He was saved from having to say anything, though, when they heard Mika’s voice.

“Naru-chan!”

“Mika-chan!” Arashi opened a dazzling smile as she turned to greet Mika, “You actually came!” Then she saw the man accompanying him and grimaced. “And you too, Shu.”

The man, Shu, huffed. He was taller up close than Tsukasa had thought, and his movements were elegant and precise.

“Kagehira insisted that I came,” He said, “And I also wanted to see if the costumes I made fit perfectly.”

Tsukasa tuned out their conversation when he heard more muttering around. He looked behind to see more people throwing them ugly glares, and he wondered if he was starting to get paranoid.

“We should leave,” Izumi said, likely noticing the stares too. “I’m going ahead.”

“Wait for me, Sena!” Leo trailed behind him, and Tsukasa was quick to follow them. Arashi and Ritsu stayed behind, still talking to Mika and Shu.

When they passed by the girls that had been next to Tsukasa before, he noticed them chuckling and he thought he heard one of them muttering  _ slut _ . Izumi and Leo kept walking as if they didn’t hear them, but he noticed Izumi’s expression turning dark.

He walked faster, stepping outside with the other two.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Ritsu-san and Arashi-san?” He asked, still trailing behind Izumi and Leo.

“It’s okay, we’ll wait for them at the station.” Leo said, and Tsukasa thought his voice sounded way too quiet, at least compared to what he was used. But then Leo turned to grin at him as if nothing had happened. “So! Did you like it, Suo?”

“Ah? Yes, it was a wonderful performance.” Tsukasa wanted to say more, mention how he was breathless through it all and how it was like nothing he had ever seen before, but the upset expression on Izumi’s face was distracting him. “Uh, Izumi-san?”

“What?” Izumi’s voice was cutting, and he didn’t even look at Tsukasa.

“... Nothing.” Tsukasa couldn’t get the words he heard from those girls out of his mind. He tried to tell himself it was just mean gossips, he should pay them no mind, but he was still bothered by what he heard.

It was only when Ritsu and Arashi reached them at the train station that he realized why he was so bothered. Watching the four of them interacting, Arashi telling them how much Mika enjoyed the performance and how Shu was satisfied with the outfits, Leo and Ritsu teasing her about Mika… He realized he was feeling overprotective of them. It had been only two days since he met them, but he already held them in high regards, and to hear people say ill words about them made him upset.

He stayed quiet during the whole travel back to their apartment, merely observing them. Leo seemed to still be too excited from the performance, and didn’t shut up for a second. Ritsu, though, quietly leaned against Izumi’s shoulder and dozed off, and Izumi had to shake him awake when they had to leave the train. Tsukasa could feel Arashi’s eyes on him, likely noticing how he was feeling, but she said nothing, instead entertaining Leo’s rambling.

When they arrived home, Leo still was in too high spirits, and ran ran to grab some papers and start composing right away. Ritsu, slumped over Izumi’s shoulders, chuckled.

“Tsukippi really is on a roll.” He yawned.

“Kuma-kun, stop leaning on me and stand up on your own.” Izumi tried to push him away.

“Secchan, carry me to my room~” Ritsu wrapped his arms around Izumi’s neck, ignoring Izumi’s protests.

Tsukasa sat down on the sofa, next to where Leo was splattered on the ground like a little kid, concentrated on the sheets in front of him as he filled them with the strange drawings - the musical notes, as he had learned. Izumi and Ritsu continued bickering while Arashi sat beside Tsukasa.

“Are you alright, Tsukasa-chan?” She asked gently. Tsukasa looked at her, remembering how those people had called her disgusting. He looked down to his own hands.

“I’m a little tired,” He said instead, which wasn’t exactly a lie. It  _ had _ been a very long day.

“I think we all are.” Arashi chuckled. “Get some sleep. We’ll have the weekend free, so maybe we can help you with your problem properly now.”

“I will be very thankful.” He finally looked at her to give her a grateful smile. Then he looked at Leo, who was already on his third paper, writing down furiously with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “Leo-san seems to be having fun.”

“He will not stop any soon, will he?” Izumi stopped next to them, putting his hands on his hips as he frowned at Leo. “Hey, Leo-kun? Go to bed already, it’s late!”

Ritsu was still draped over his back, his head leaning over Izumi’s shoulder, looking at Tsukasa with interest while Izumi still tried to get Leo’s attention.

“Suuchan, you look horrible,” Ritsu commented, “Are you like this because you worked too much today? I wonder what kind of jobs you did as a knight~.”

Tsukasa felt his cheeks heating up. Sure, he had been raised as a noble, but it’s not like he didn’t do anything all day. Training to become a knight had been harsh and constant, and even while in the Himemiya’s estate he kept practicing.

_ And it was all pointless in the end _ , a voice whispered in his mind. All his training was for nothing, for his king and queen were dead and he had been separated from his prince. What a useless knight he was…

“Suuchan?”

“What did you do now, Kuma-kun?” Izumi finally looked up from Leo when he noticed he concern in Ritsu’s voice. Tsukasa quickly tried to school his expression.

“It’s nothing,” He lied, “As I said, I am just tired. I should go sleep.” He tired to give them a smile, “The  _ performance _ was amazing. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from you all.”

“Fufu, is that so? I’m glad you liked it,” Ritsu said, although Izumi merely hummed. Tsukasa couldn’t read his expression at all.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me…” He stood up, ready to go change into his sleeping clothes, when Leo suddenly sat up.

“It’s done!” He grinned up at them, and then his eyes settled on Tsukasa. “Suo~ you look terrible, wahaha. Did you eat something strange over there? Or could it be you heard something you shouldn’t?”

Tsukasa froze in place. The way Leo’s eyes looked at him, it was as if he knew exactly why Tsukasa was upset. Was he trying to corner Tsukasa and make him say what he had heard?

“Huh, so you heard those things.” Ritsu tightened his hold around Izumi, giving Tsukasa an indecipherable look.

“It were just some gossips,” Tsukasa was quick to say, “I heard worse in the court. Please do not concern yourselves with it.”

“What did you hear?” Izumi asked, ignoring his plea, and again he seemed upset.

“Izumi-chan…” Arashi started, but Izumi glared at her.

“It’s probably just the same as always,” Ritsu finally pushed away from Izumi and yawned again, “Although I understand why you’re upset. After all, Suuchan might be think lots of nasty stuff about us now~.”

“No! Never!” Tsukasa shook his head furiously. “I’ve always hated gossips. I don’t like to judge people with what I hear from other people.”

“But you do know some gossips have truths in them, don’t you?”

“Ritsu-chan, what are you trying to do?” Arashi frowned at him, “Leave him alone, I’m sure it was upsetting for him to hear all those things and not being able to say anything.”

“And what would he say? Huh?” Izumi crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Tsukasa. “Would he join in the gossiping? Would he defend us? He barely even knows us!”

Leo stood up slowly, and Tsukasa looked at him. He couldn’t read his expression at all.

“What did you hear, Suo?” He asked firmly, “You know, we won’t judge you if you believe any of that.”

Tsukasa fidgetted, looking at each of their faces.

“As I said, it were just mean gossips,” He said in a low voice, “Only some people saying… mean things about Arashi-san and Izumi-san. And saying… that Leo-san would be better without them.” He then looked at Leo, raising his voice a little, “I would never believe any of that, though! It is true I know you all for only a little time, but I trust my own judgment rather than others. You four have been nothing but kind and understanding with me, helping me when you had no reason for it.” He took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and looked at Ritsu. “Ritsu-san, you are correct, most gossips have some truth in them. But I would rather hear the truth from you than trust in someone who I don’t know and who doesn’t know any of you.”

A tense silence followed his words. Arashi and Ritsu looked at each other, as if having a silent argument through their stares. Izumi looked at the ground, his expression still angry. Leo, however, still stared at Tsukasa, and his gaze had become fond.

“You’re too kind, Suo,” He said, “You definitely wouldn’t last in a world like this one, wahaha.”

“... If by that you mean to say that this world is too cruel, you are wrong.” Tsukasa stopped for a moment, and then shook his head. “No, perhaps you are correct. If this world is anything like my own, then I’m just as useless here as I was there.”

He hadn’t been able to protect Tori back then, and now he hadn’t been able to say anything to defend his hosts. He was just a useless knight, without armor and weapons, completely unable to protect the ones he cared about.

The others were giving him confused looks, so he shook his head again and tried to smile.

“Please do not concern yourselves,” He said. “None of what I heard matters, for I still hold all of you in high regards. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really am tired, so I’m going to sleep.”

Nobody tried to stop him this time, so he left the room and went to Leo’s room. He quickly changed into his sleeping clothes and slipped under his sheets on the futon, closing his eyes and trying to sleep.

After a while, he heard the door open and close as Leo entered the room. He kept his eyes closed, but he sensed as Leo stopped next to him, kneeling beside him.

“Suo, you’re so silly,” He whispered with a chuckle. Tsukasa felt his hand caressing his hair gently. “Thank you.”

After that, Leo went to sleep too. Tsukasa stayed quiet on his futon, trying to sleep as well, but after what seemed like hours he was still wide awake. As much as he tried, he couldn’t help but think of what he had heard, and Izumi’s upset face.

_ So what? _ He told himself. What if it was true? What if Izumi really was a… He shook his head. He didn’t care. As much as Izumi had been irritated with his arrival and made sure to know he wanted him to leave, he still bought him clothes and cooked meals for him, and he still was going to help him go back home. It didn’t matter what he was, and Tsukasa didn’t care.

And it probably wasn’t even true, anyway. He had heard gossips like that about ladies of the court before, and the only truth behind that was that they had maybe a secret lover. Ill-intentioned people just love to distort the truth. And maybe the truth here was just that Izumi had a secret lover, or something like that.

He turned around, facing Leo’s bed. Leo had an arm thrown over the edge of the bed, his fingers brushing the wood floor. With his expression relaxed, his mouth carelessly open as he snored lightly, he definitely didn’t look like the same person Tsukasa had seen on that stage.

Closing his eyes, Tsukasa tried to summon up that image again - of Leo with fierce eyes, with the confident aura of a king. That music was still stuck in his head, the melody Leo had created and the four of them had sang together. Slowly, sleep came to him, and he fell asleep wishing he could see that side of Leo again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's me again lol   
> This was sooner than expected, guess I was on a roll skdjhskjhsdf I probably should revise this properly but tbh I was too excited to post this, so here it is. Oops lol
> 
> Idk when the next one will be tho, things will start to get wild now :)


End file.
